Mark Weber (@markrweber) is a graduate researcher at the MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative and a fellow at the Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship. He specializes in connecting dots across disciplines and leading diverse teams to bridge emergent technologies with real world applications informed by economics, systems thinking, and behavioral science.

Passionate about financial inclusion, Mark has spent two years researching and prototyping alternative credit systems for small-medium enterprises in emerging markets. Through a knowledge-sharing partnership with the Mexican Government and the Inter-American Development Bank, Mark envisioned and led the development of the "b_verify" prototype for blockchain verifiable claims for agricultural financing (academic papers and open-source code forthcoming).

Mark also initiated and and manages the Digital Currency Initiative's student working groups, interdisciplinary teams hacking on a range of pressing issues in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Learn more at dci.mit.edu.

Prior to MIT, Mark's penchant for economics drove him to produce three documentary films, most recently the critically acclaimed, Poverty, Inc., winner of 50 international film festival honors, the $100,000 Templeton Freedom award, broadcast deals in 12 countries, and praise across the political spectrum. See the film on Netflix and learn more at www.povertyinc.org.

As a public speaker, Mark enjoys opportunities to share his research and learn from others. He has delivered talks at over 100 top universities, organizations, and events around the world on topics ranging from blockchain applications for human flourishing to the sociopolitical and economic dynamics of global poverty and development.

Mark owes a debt of gratitude to his classical “Great Books” education from the University of Notre Dame. His recreational joys include ultra-marathon mountain running, reading, and gourmet cooking with his wife Hanane.

Indeed, poverty is infinitely complex and there are no convenient singularities. The project of Poverty, Inc. is embrace that complexity and eschew silver bullets. “It’s easy to have a heart for the poor,” says development expert Michael Fairbanks in the film. “But can we have a mind for the poor? That’s the challenge.”

“When I see the country heads drive around in their posh cars and living in their big houses,” echoes Ghanaian software entrepreneur Herman Chinery-Hesse in Poverty, Inc., “I see multiple colonial governors. We are held captive by the donor community.”

Very few people ever take notice of one of the key drivers of illegal immigration: poverty in the developing world fueled by U.S. agricultural subsidies and crony capitalist trade policies supported by Republicans and Democrats alike.

We heard two big bangs about 50 yards ahead. My friends grabbed me, their guest, tightly and the rickshaw driver halted abruptly. People were running and yelling, but it seemed no one was hurt from the explosions. Just mini-bombs, meant to frighten, not to injure. A few moments later, we were bouncing along again as if nothing had happened. But that was just the beginning.

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Mark has served as a guest speaker for over 100 organizations including Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, Stanford University, NYU (hosted by Bill Easterly), Cornell School of Management, Copenhagen Business School, Entrepreneurs Without Borders Annual Leadership Summit, Global Health Corps (hosted by Barbara Bush), IBM Watson Research Headquarters, and the MIT Tech Review.

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About Mark R. Weber

Mark R. Weber (@markrweber) is a Fellow at the MIT Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship and a project manager at the MIT Media Lab's Digital Currency Initiative, a research group focused on the development of blockchain technology and its applications for the public good. Focused on financial inclusion and small-medium enterprise, Mark leads the DCI's research team on blockchain asset registries which has developed a prototype for inventory-based lending. Mark also manages DCI's working groups, cross-functional teams of MIT students hacking on cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technologies.

Prior to MIT, Mark co-produced the critically acclaimed documentary, "Poverty, Inc." (available on Netflix), which has earned over 50 international film festival honors, the $100,000 Templeton Freedom award, TV broadcast deals in 12 countries, and praise across the political spectrum, from Michael Moore to Nobel laureate Angus Deaton. Drawing on over 200 interviews from 20 countries, the film critiques the Western development establishment and its tendency to undermine local markets, cultures, and governance. Learn more and see Mark's post-screening Q&A's at www.povertyinc.org.

Mark is a graduate of the “Great Books” program at the University of Notre Dame, an intensive curriculum heavy in philosophy and theology, history, economics, science, and literature. His recreational joy is ultra marathon mountain running.